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Sunday, September 21, 2014

I've been going crazy with stamping manicures this week! A friend gave me some gorgeous stamping polishes to test out as she's planning on bringing out a range soon, and the colours were so gorgeous, it inspired me to take out my stamping plates and get adventurous!

For the first mani, I used Konad plate M89 and stamped rose polish over black for all nails except my ring finger, where I used purple polish over black (Liquid Vinyl from ORLY). I really liked this mani, and it got me a lot of compliments from strangers as I was out and about!

With the second mani, I decided to use a different design from the same Konad plate (M89) for my ring finger, and then used the lotus and butterfly designs from Konad plate M39 for the remaining fingers. I used violet (with black randomly scraped over the plate to give definition) for the butterflies, and scarlet for the lotus flowers (also with black for definition), stamped over Sally Hansen White On. I also stamped the violet polish over Rimmel Black Cherry for the ring finger, which gave it an interesting blue tinge!

I'm pretty pleased with these stamping efforts, the second mani took me a lot longer to do because I kept messing things up, but overall, I think I did pretty well for a beginner!

What do you think, lovelies? Do you like these? Which manicure do you prefer?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

September is Liptember month, so I wanted to do something special in honour of it. If you aren't familiar with Liptember, it's all about having fun with lipstick for a serious cause - Women's Mental Health, which includes anxiety, depression, post natal depression, menopausal change, dementia and self-image. All funds raised in September are donated to Liptember's mental health beneficiaries; the Centre for Women's Mental Health and LIFELINE.If you'd like to know more about Liptember, check out the post I did last year (click here) or visit the Liptember website for more information.

You can participate in Liptember through three different ways:

a) Purchasing an official Liptember lipstick from My Chemist, Chemist Warehouse and My Beauty Spot or online;
b) Fundraising by pledging to wear an official Liptember lipstick every day during the whole month of September, and asking your family and friends to sponsor you (it's never too late to join in!!!); and,
c) Sponsoring someone who is participating in Liptember by donating on the website.

This year, things were run a bit differently, because not only did the official Liptember lipsticks include the usual Revlon lipsticks and the challenge neon lipsticks (purple, blue, green, red, pink, yellow), but also some very wearable shades of pink! I was fortunate enough to receive two shades of pink in the mail (Party Pink and Fuschia) but I also purchased Sex Bomb and Fluorescent Blue from Chemist Warehouse.

Before I go further, I'll just show you the four Liptember lipsticks I own. I can say that these are actually really remarkable lipsticks as they are soft, balmy and very moisturising, all while offering great pigmentation! Very impressive indeed, especially when you consider the affordable $5 pricetag (though I have heard that some Chemist Warehouse stores are now offering them for 3 for $10).

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Have you heard of CasualCurl*? CasualCurl* is a long roller that creates lovely, loose waves/curls rather effortlessly! It's made from rather high tech stuff, comprising aerospace technology high temperature resistance material, which means that it won't over-heat or damage your hair, as it works by heating from the inside, not the outside. It's also endorsed by multi-award winning and Australian hairdresser of the year, Brad Ngata.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a nail art challenge hosted by one of my favourite websites, Beautyheaven! They had four weeks with different themes per week, and all you had to do was submit a mani fitting each theme. I love participating in challenges because it really gets your creativity flowing!

Week 2 was green/blue, which I kinda struggled with, so I ended up going with light blue polish as a base with green stamping on the top. I did actually create another look but I decided I didn't like it so I wasn't going to share it!

Monday, September 8, 2014

I received my August Lust Have It this past Friday, so it was running a bit late again last month. The August box was the birthday box so I had certain expectations of it; let's take a look at what I received, shall we?

Thursday, September 4, 2014

As some of you may know, I have quite a large perfume collection, and I tend to decide on what I'm wearing based on what I'm planning to do. Do you ever find yourself stumped as to what sort of fragrances to wear for special occasions, such as date nights? If so, never fear, I have a few favourites to share that might give you some ideas!

When it comes to date night perfumes, I like to wear light, yet longlasting scents that will last the duration of the date, without having to carry some along to freshen up the scent. The idea is to be low key and not have your date think you had a bath in the scent, but just to have an enticing ribbon of sillage (perfume speak for the trail that's left behind as you walk through an area) reach out to entice his senses every now and then!

Here are some tried and tested favourites I commonly reach for, which not only go the distance, but also get me heaps of compliments along the way!

Nina Ricci Ricci Ricci eau de parfum

I have a weakness for Nina Ricci scents and this has to be my favourite of the lot (which says a lot)! The purple bottle is simply gorgeous, with a lovely design emulating a ribbon built into the top. I classify this as a sweet floral, with top notes of rhubarb, bergamot and moonflower, mid notes of rose and tuberose, and base notes of patchouli and sandalwood. I just repurchased my second bottle of this!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

If you're a candle lover like I am, you'll need to pay special attention to this post! I absolutely adore candles, they really add to the ambience at home and have great value as decorative pieces. My favourite types of candles are scented soy candles, because they burn cleanly, last a long time and have great throw (i.e. deliver a wider ranging scent). I've also always wanted to try wood wick candles because I'd heard they sound just like real fires!

All of this was why I was really excited when I discovered local Victorian company Tanda Modern. I have to confess a soft spot for Melbourne based products, it's always lovely to try products made locally! I was thrilled at the opportunity to try some of their handmade candles and soy melts, so let's take a look at them, shall we?

First of all, I loved the packaging; the glass jars were simple, yet elegant, and the grey boxes they arrived in were sturdy and classy in design. All of these arrived packaged in a much larger box with plenty of foam bubbles for protection.

The Made Up Maiden is a Melbourne based beauty blog written by Nalini, a young professional with a great love for all beauty products (but is especially fixated on makeup, nail polish and fragrances).
Working in a male dominated industry by day, she moonlights as a beauty blogger by night, and is always on the lookout for new products to fall in love with! She loves exercising her creative side by showcasing various makeup and nail art looks on the blog.